Microsoft representatives have urged House and Senate members to cut President Clinton's proposed funding for the division by about $9 million this year. And nonprofit organizations that receive financial support from the company have also urged key congressional appropriators to limit spending for the division when they begin their final negotiations on the Justice Department's budget, possibly as soon as Monday.

The nonprofit groups made their request in a letter last month after an all-expenses-paid trip to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., where they were entertained and briefed on an array of issues facing the company.

Microsoft's latest efforts on Capitol Hill will have little or no effect on the department's antitrust case against the software giant, and for that reason they seem somewhat unusual.

But company officials said they want to send a strong message to the antitrust division.

``It's no secret we really have some serious concerns about some of the Department of Justice's conduct during the course of this litigation,'' said Jack Krumholtz, director of federal government affairs for Microsoft.

The Clinton administration is seeking $114.3 million to cover the salaries of 360 lawyers in the antitrust division and to fund the hiring of about 18 more legal staff members. Senate appropriators have proposed a budget of $112.3 million, but the House figure is only $105.2 million, and the Senate has come under pressure to give way to the House.